Book of the Month - September 2011 - The Secret History

The Book

This is a many layered story which at its heart is a murder mystery/thriller set in a small, exclusive New England college, told from the perspective of the narrator, Richard Papen, an outsider from California. Papen is quickly seduced by an elite group of five Greek scholars and their charismatic tutor, Julian Morrow. He is drawn into their circle and learns their terrifying secret.

 

The novel begins with a prologue from which we are drawn immediately and compelling into the story that Papen unfolds.

 

It is a heady mix of mystery, Gothic romance, tragedy, psychology which brings to mind Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope', Brideshead Revisited, The Blair Witch Project and Greek tragedies.

 

To many it is seen as a modern classic but what will readers in Ponders End make of it?

The Author

Donna Tartt is an American author who was born and raised in Mississippi. She was the daughter of a local politician. Born in 1963, she was only 28 when 'The Secret History' was first published while Tartt was still a student at a liberal US art college - Bennington College, which is in Vermont. Her second novel, 'A Little Friend' was published almost 10 years later in 2010.

More Information

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Tartt and http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/oct/19/fiction.features

Book of the Month - July 2011 - The Dark Room

The Book

This debut novel, nominated for the Booker Prize in 2001 and winner of a Betty Trask Award, explores the legacy of Nazi guilt and the modern German psyche. It is told from the perspective of three ordinary Germans between the 1920s and 1990s.

The stories comprise those of Helmut - a young photographer in Berlin in the 1930s; Lore - a 12-year old girl guiding her family across Germany after her Nazi parents are seized by the Allies; and Micha - a young teacher obsessed by her grandfathers role in the war and struggling with the past.

Reviewers have praised it as a novel that provokes discussion about how we ourselves would respond to atrocious events and their legacy. It has been judged as exploring emotional and psychological issues with rare insight and humanity.

The Author

Rachel Seiffert was born in 1971 to a German mother and Australian father and grew up mostly in Glasgow and Oxford. She has lived in Berlin. She has also worked in film and community education and currently writes full-time for a living. In 2003, Seiffert was named by Granta magazine as one of 'Best of British Young Novelists'. Since publishing the book, Seiffert has gone on to publish a book of short stories, 'Field Studies' (2004) and 'Afterwards' (2007).

More Information

For more information see:

http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth03A30L020012634903

Book of the Month - June 2011 - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Book

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is set in the years after World War Two. It is the story of an English author, Juliet Ashton, who embarks on a new writing project and in the process begins a correspondence with a native of Guernsey, Dawsey Adams. Soon, Juliet is drawn into the lives of Dawsey and his friends who form the society. Juliet is welcomed into the community and through her eyes and writing we learn about the experiences of the islanders during the War.

This novel is billed as a celebration of literature, love and the human spirit.

The Author

Mary Ann Shaffer was from West Virginia, United States. She worked in bookshops and was also an editor and librarian. Her lifelong dream was to write and publish her own novel, which came true with the publication of this particular book, which is her first and only novel. Sadly, Shaffer died in 2008 of cancer shortly before the book was actually published and her niece Annie Barrows helped her finish the book.

More Information

For more information about the book see: http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/guernsey/

Happiness is....

This is so true.........or even better...is reading a good book and having a great big cup of tea!

The Start....

The Ponders End Book Club is a reality. The group has been meeting since January 2011, once a month to discuss a range of novels and new members are always welcome.

So far we've discussed books about ghosts, love and friendship spanning over 20 years, the fallout from an Australian barbeque, a thriller set in Bible belt America and a book inspired by the Josef Fritzl case - quite a range, as you can tell....

The books are "Her Fearful Symmetry", "One Day", "The Slap", "The Killing Place" and "Room".

Some we've loved, others we've found disappointing - all have provoked intelligent discussion and fresh perspectives.

If you've not read these books already, you might want to see the page in this blog which lists the average rating we've given for each book along with a very short analysis.

You can also find out more about who we are, when and where we meet in London and details of of the books we are due to read over the coming months.

Happy reading!